Last updated: May 23rd, 2025 at 12:23 pm · Est. Reading Time: < 1 minute
The lands of pre-Islamic Arabia, which did not have any formal state and were governed by tribal traditions, are called the Tribal Zone of pre-Islamic Arabia.
State vs. Non-State
The whole of Arabia did not consist of the Tribal Zone. The north and south of the Arabian Peninsula had developed states. Syria, Iraq, and Yemen had experienced statehood. It was mainly the central regions of Arabia that failed to develop a state.
Reference
Warner Caskel, “The Bedouinization of Arabia,” American Anthropologist 52, no. 2, part 2, memoir no. 76 (1954): 37 – 39.